It was a relatively small matter finding the Roosevelt Row concrete sidewalks that were poured three years before Arizona was even a state.

It was more difficult than it used to be, however, to find the sidewalks in downtown Phoenix that roll up at 6 p.m. Yes, I looked.

Despite being Arizona's capital and the sixth-largest city in the United States, Phoenix has a central business district that only within the past decade discovered that there's life outside of bankers' hours. And while the city didn't actually roll up the sidewalks at sundown, they might as well have - there wasn't any reason to be there.

To hear locals tell it, there were more than enough reasons not to be there after dark.

But in recent years, with the arrival of a satellite campus of Arizona State University, the development of a popular arts district in what had been a blighted neighborhood, and the addition of attractions, boutique lodging and real dining, downtown now offers a reason to visit and stay, making it finally worthy of the city's size.

Whether the downtown is a destination by itself isn't as important right now, however, as whether it's become a greatly improved location for spring training fans looking to base within range of more parks - as well as have something to do after the last out is called. I was in town to find out.

Heart of the city

The Downtown Phoenix Business Improvement District claims about 90 blocks between the railroad tracks to the south and Interstate 10 to the north. The urban center has its share of skyscrapers and grand government buildings, although another element of the improved downtown is its reconnection with nearby neighborhoods that are part of the city's history, including Evans Churchill, Garfield and Roosevelt.

There are a few edifices left from previous eras of vitality - the Beaux Arts 1928 Hotel San Carlos and the Art Deco Luhrs Tower, among others - but most of the current life is connected to newer construction.

Arizona State University opened a downtown campus in 2006, suddenly bringing thousands of students into downtown - and suddenly creating a need for a more age-appropriate, hipper nightlife.

Around the same time, after a few years of redevelopment, officials were able to clear out some of the high-crime areas next to the city center. Artists and art groups wasted no time taking over former abandoned buildings and crack houses, turning them into galleries, studio spaces and alternative cafes and brew pubs.

The arts district now supports a monthly art walk, as well as a twice-weekly public market (think farmers' market, expanded) and Food Truck Fridays.

Strolling east on Van Buren Street, past the Arizona Center, a busy open-air mall with popular restaurants, is one of several college-related spots around downtown. In one block, buildings for the University of Arizona College of Medicine filled one side and on the other was the Mercado, a collection of administration, classroom and community buildings that are part of ASU's downtown campus.

My walking goal was Heritage Square, a block of preserved buildings from earlier days, as well as the family-friendly Arizona Science Center. The center, an oddly shaped bunker dedicated to hands-on learning, had no shortage of hands to push, spin, poke and crank the hundreds of displays, most related to some element of Arizona history, geology or climate.

I watched, amused, as grade-school children created mini tornadoes with a bellows and dry-ice fog, and as two families on a platform subjected themselves to the effects of a hurricane. (Never mind that Arizona isn't overly prone to either force of nature - the displays were informative and entertaining.)

Time for pizza

Outside the Science Center, I walked across the square to one of the preserved heritage buildings, a red-brick former machine shop built in 1929 that these days is the most popular pizza joint in town. The staff only recently began serving lunch at Pizzeria Bianco, my waiter said, after the wait for dinner in the small dining room reached two hours.

I couldn't understand waiting two hours for any meal, but the Wiseguy - a ruggedly handsome pizza with wood-roasted onions, house-smoked mozzarella and fennel sausage - provided enough of an explanation for the lines.

Fitting in with the reuse theme, the farmhouse across the street, once an upscale restaurant, now serves as the Rose and Crown, a thoroughly British-themed pub and cafe. A portrait of Winston Churchill watches over the pool table, and another of Benny Hill keeps tabs on the back bar. The place seemed suited - possibly even designed for - the growing influx of students in the neighborhood.

I cut down Jefferson, mostly to get a better look at Chase Field. While the Arizona Diamondbacks' stadium is hardly new - built in 1995 and revamped a few times since - its presence downtown has played a part in improvements among local clubs and restaurants, as well as improvements to transportation. (The Metro light-rail system is clean and efficient, but isn't necessary for navigating the easily walkable downtown.)

No game was playing at Chase Field, a massive blimp hangar of a park with a retractable roof (and, oddly, a swimming pool in home run territory), but I followed a sign for TGI Fridays into the building. It turns out the pub-grub chain restaurant is open year-round and offers inside-the-park seating and open-window views.

While the park isn't used much during spring training, the balcony tables seemed like a good spot to soak up the major-league ambience over ribs and Buffalo wings.

"Ever have home run balls come up here?" I asked the waiter.

"Yeah. Especially during batting practice," he said, admitting, however, that he couldn't remember the distance from home plate to one of their nacho plates.

Escape to CityScape

The newest, shiniest symbol of downtown's new life is the Phoenix CityScape pedestrian mall between Washington and Jefferson streets, from First Avenue to First Street. (For added fun, the north-south streets west of Central Avenue are numbered avenues, and those east of Central are numbered streets. So make sure you get clear directions and make note of the difference.)

The biggest, shiniest piece of CityScape is the Hotel Palomar, a newly opened Kimpton property that seems to be downtown's first chic-boutique upscale hotel - a place not just catering to sports fans and conventioneers.

Just off the lobby is Blue Hound Kitchen and Cocktails, a contemporary, self-described gastro-lounge with "seasonally inspired, chef-driven cuisine," artisanal wines, craft cocktails and locally brewed beers. At the moment, I was just glad for happy hour pricing on my "craft" margarita.

It seemed Blue Hound was conceived to attract local and visiting foodies, but it is also well suited for fans during spring training looking for an evening antidote to a day of beer and ballpark chow. (Tip: The kitchen also supplies the food for the slightly hidden Lustre poolside bar in the Palomar.)

Nifty nightspots

As pedestrian malls go, CityScape is on the short side, although it offers fountains, landscaped plots of trees and grass, and plenty of spots to rest or soak up the Phoenix sun. Among the standard chain cafes and shops are the Lucky Strike bowling alley, the trendy Arrogant Butcher restaurant and Stand Up Live, a comedy club where the calendar includes names such as Ralphie May, Bob Saget, Richard Lewis and Sheryl Underwood.

The place has been successful enough, according to the clerk at the downtown tourism office, that other restaurants and clubs are setting up comedy nights. Next to Stand Up Live (sharing space) is Copper Blues Rock Pub and Kitchen, a live music club with a stage bar and an outside patio lounge. While quiet in the middle of December, both are likely to be popular nightspots during Cactus League play.

Emerging arts district

At first it looked like any other industrial neighborhood, with rows of single-story shops and fenced-off vacant lots - until I saw the murals.

The most radical reversal within the larger downtown area has been in the Evans Churchill and Roosevelt neighborhoods, where once-crime-riddled streets have become a supportive incubator for an arts culture.

On Roosevelt Street, metal sculpture and a mural of 7-foot robins cover one shop, while Carly's Bistro draws attention with a wall of vibrant, cartoonish Dia de los Muertos art, and a brick wall of Angels Trumpet Ale House is a yellow-and-red explosion of a winged nymph bearing glasses of beer.

Probably the best time to indulge in the creativity is during the First Fridays Phoenix Art Walk and related ARTS Market (408 E. Roosevelt St.), which, like the twice-weekly Public Market events, have become as much about community as about art or food.

I had considered going to the Film Bar Lounge and Art House Cinema - called by its owners "A beer and wine bar that has a movie theater attached to it" that screens indie, foreign and locally made films - but opted instead for Angels Trumpet across the street.

What looked a bit like a bunker from the outside (except for the mural) was fun and inviting inside, with a long bar and one side of the building open to a friendly patio.

Over a locally brewed oatmeal stout and crispy Spam sliders (yes, really), I wondered if the scene didn't best reflect what the downtown has become. There was a mix of young professionals, the college crowd, arty hipsters and smartly dressed older couples apparently headed for a show. As the downtown becomes more attractive to a wider range of locals, it just becomes more attractive.

From where I was sitting, I couldn't see the street outside, but with night well in charge and the place still filling up, I was pretty sure that the sidewalks wouldn't be rolling up anytime soon.

If you go

Getting there

Southwest and US Airways have direct flights to Phoenix from San Francisco International.

More information

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